David Learmond Discusses Strategic Workforce Planning

Board Europe — September / October 2008

The Conference Board recently launched a Research Working Group to study the implementation of Strategic Workforce Planning in Global Organisations. The group is being led by David Learmond, the director of the group and newly appointed Acting Managing Director of The Conference Board Europe. BoardEurope spoke with David about the demographic issues facing European companies today, and the role The Conference Board can play in helping businesses develop strategies to meet the challenges of the future.

What is the driving force behind this new Research Working Group?

If we look at the latest Conference Board survey of CEO Challenges, we can see that business leaders are very concerned about skill shortages and being able to recruit and develop the talent they need to develop their business. In Europe, for example, the demographic challenges are well-documented, but there is a great deal of uncertainty about how to solve them. This research group will study the implementation of new tools to help businesses identify, attract and develop the skills they will need for the future.

The Conference Board has been studying these issues for quite some time.

Strategic Workforce Planning (SWP) is an area in which The Conference Board has been genuinely leading-edge. Dr. Mary Young, a senior researcher with The Conference Board, published the first report, "Strategic Workforce Planning," two years ago in 2006. Last year, she published a report specifically on the issues of the maturing workforce. That report, "Gray Skies, Silver Linings," describes how companies can use strategic workforce planning to analyse exactly where and when the retirement wave will hit, so they can prepare. A third report on the implementation of SWP will be published later this year. We've seen huge growth in the number of companies that want to implement SWP and only a handful that have developed deep expertise thus far. It's an emerging profession, a subset of the HR and corporate strategy functions, and these issues are becoming of critical importance to businesses.

What are the big demographic issues facing Europe today?

Without doubt an aging population and the availability of key skills to drive business development. It can range from having enough university qualified engineers to enough lorry drivers to deliver products. Strategic Workforce Planning is both an HR issue and a corporate strategy issue. From an HR perspective, you can see companies have to make decisions about whether to "buy, build, borrow or rent" talent. Many tend to default to the most expensive solution, which is to buy it. But they could also "borrow" this talent, for example from customers or suppliers, or by taking people from one end of the business and "lending" them to other areas. Many businesses are still structured too rigidly in silos to do this effectively. They may need to consider breaking down the barriers and moving people to the areas of greatest need and priority. This could also help them develop and retain talent.

Is Europe developing the skills that companies need for today and tomorrow?

We need to get better at predicting the skills we will need and where we will need them. But businesses can't do it alone. They must work with educational establishments and government, to ensure that they get the talent they need to develop their business plans. They need to look around and identify the indicative trends, to do scenario planning, and come to a good understanding of the people and the skills that they need. And they have to work with educational establishments already now, so that 10 years from now they have the right people, in the right place at the right cost. They also need to take a hard look at the progress being made as a result of their diversity and inclusion strategies. For example, if you have skill shortages, you can't afford to ignore the half of the population that happens to be female. The same is true for migrants, who can bring in key skills. Europe needs to look at the emerging markets and also at Central Europe. It's important to look at all areas where business needs to be done.

How can The Conference Board help?

The Conference Board has a strong Council program in Europe that addresses the needs of Members. Companies spend a lot of time on trends affecting business, and for this The Conference Board is uniquely positioned. It offers a trusted environment for sharing knowledge, and it also has the capability to do the kind of in-depth research that can really help businesses. It also provides opportunities for executives to think about their own situation and challenges from different vantage points. A good example is a recent meeting of the Learning Leadership Council that was held at the British Museum on the theme of managing across cultures. The British Museum is not your typical business, but it is a business and it has a great deal of knowledge and experience on intercultural management as well as being a unique place to really understand different cultures. Getting privileged, behind-the-scenes access to how they deal with the major business challenges of the day is a great way for executives to rethink these same issues within their own companies. It's not like your typical open conference where all you hear is the good sound bite, the positive message that's been carefully crafted for the public. The Conference Board allows you to get to the heart of the critical issues.

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